A U.S. federal judge on Thursday blocked the Pentagon’s decision to blacklist Anthropic, marking a major development in the AI company’s legal battle with the U.S. military over restrictions on how its Claude models can be used. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Pentagon’s designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk was “illegal and baseless.” The decision prevents the Defense Department from using the designation to impose certain restrictions on the company while the legal dispute continues.
The conflict began after Anthropic refused to allow its AI models to be used for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons, arguing that current AI systems are not reliable enough to safely operate weapons without human control. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth subsequently designated the company a supply-chain risk, a move that Anthropic said could cost billions of dollars in lost business and damage its reputation. Anthropic argued that the Pentagon had exceeded its authority and retaliated against the company for expressing views on AI safety, violating its First and Fifth Amendment rights.
In her 59-page ruling, Judge Lin said national security concerns cannot be used as a “blank check” to punish government critics. Anthropic welcomed the decision, saying it remained committed to working with the government on national-security applications of AI. The Pentagon and Justice Department have argued that Anthropic’s contractual restrictions could create uncertainty over the military’s ability to use Claude and potentially disrupt systems during operations. A separate lawsuit involving another Pentagon supply-chain risk designation is also pending in Washington, D.C.
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